


Islands

by DmitriMolotov



Series: Choice Chamber [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Angst, Gen, Sadistic Choice, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 17:40:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8294480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DmitriMolotov/pseuds/DmitriMolotov
Summary: Six Achievement Hunters, three islands.
  
  Everyone will die at sundown unless you make a choice.
  
  Before you are two detonators. You can save yourselves and two others by activating one before the sun sets.
  
  The choice is yours, but the clock is ticking.
Prefaced with this lovely piece of information.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Concept presented by [FriendlyCybird](http://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyCybird).   
> I'm starting to suspect they're actually Jigsaw.

Ryan came to first; Jeremy was still unconscious, sprawled out on the ground next to him. The world seemed to bob beneath him as he struggled to get his bearings. The sun beat down hot and everything was painfully bright as he squinted through the glare. He had to blink a few times to convince himself it wasn’t some kind of illusion. _They were on an island._

The island was small, only perhaps 30 ft square and looked man-made, like a reclamation project, like something he’d seen in a documentary about islands in Dubai. All perfect white sand with a few palm trees and ferns in the centre. Small waves lapped at the shore. In the distance, but still clearly visible, were two other, almost identical islands. There was nothing else visible above the horizon in any direction. They were quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

He turned his attention back to the island itself. There wasn’t much at all, definitely nothing to sustain them for any period of time. A feeling not quite akin to panic, but definitely close to concern was settling in his gut. The only thing besides the sparse vegetation was a small wooden box near to where Jeremy was starting to stir.

The box could wait.

“Jeremy?” Ryan crouched down next to him, placing one hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze to help him orient himself as he came to.

Jeremy blinked and looked around before immediately retching and throwing up, spitting a few times to get the last of it out.

“It’s ok,” Ryan soothed, giving him a quick pat on the back, “might as well get it out now.”

Jeremy looked worse for wear, but at least he was awake now.

“Ryan? What happened? Where the fuck are we?” Jeremy asked as he looked around slowly, so as not to make himself sicker.

“I don’t know, but we’re clearly on an island. Looks like it’s man-made. Probably why you’re not feeling so good.” Ryan offered him a weak smile as he walked to the ‘shore’ and peered into the water. It was far deeper than he anticipated, like the island was just floating and dropped away beneath the sand.

“Well, _that’s_ not good,” he commented quietly as Jeremy carefully walked up behind him, following his gaze.

“Oh man… that’s real bad.”

Ryan turned his attention back to the box, crouching next to it as Jeremy uneasily wandered back over, taking in the island. Ryan removed the lid of the box, revealing a note and two black controls with red switches. One was labelled _Geoff & Jack_, the other was labelled _Gavin & Michael._

Ryan suddenly felt sick.

Jeremy picked up the note first and Ryan leaned in over his shoulder to read it.

Jeremy read it aloud anyway.

_"Six Achievement Hunters, three islands._

_Everyone will die at sundown unless you make a choice._

_Before you are two detonators. You can save yourselves and two others by activating one before the sun sets._

_The choice is yours, but the clock is ticking.”_

It took a moment for it to sink in before Ryan remarked, “Well, that’s elaborate.”

Jeremy shook his head, “I don’t understand. Who would do this?”

“Some sick fuck,” Ryan replied dismissively, “whoever it is, they’ll pay.”

Ryan bit his lip and looked around the island again, but there was nothing to see, no further clues.

Jeremy swallowed and let out a long breath, turning his eyes up to meet Ryan’s, “So what do we do?”

Ryan shook his head, “I don’t know.” He paced a little way up the beach and turned on his heel, clapping his hands together decisively. “Alright. Let’s start with what we _do_ know.”

Jeremy shrugged, glancing at the position of the sun and shadows cast by the palm trees. “We don’t have long… maybe an hour, tops.”

“They could be bluffing,” Ryan pointed out, not so much hopefully, but more just listing it as a possibility – the best possible outcome – but they both knew that that would involve _calling_ the bluff.

Ryan looked down at the sand, digging into it a little way with the toe of his shoe. _Why would they go to such a length and then bluff?_ The only answer he could come up with was: _they wouldn’t._ His toe struck against something firm, a little way under the sand and he pushed the sand aside with his foot, revealing something hard and plastic. He crouched to inspect it more closely, brushing more sand away with his hands.

Jeremy knelt down next to him, leaning in to get a better view. “Is that… _what_ is that? Is that some kind of explosive?”

Ryan grimaced, uncovering more of the same. He wasn’t actually sure if it was real, but it gave him an uneasy feeling nonetheless. “Sure looks like it.”

With a huff he stood and kicked at the sand, scratching fingers through his beard. Jeremy inspected the ground more closely, uncovering more of the potential explosives all around.

_So, probably not bluffing._

Ryan shaded his eyes against the afternoon sun and squinted towards the other islands in the distance. It was impossibly hard to judge how far away they were, but he guessed it would take them longer than the time they had left to reach them.

Following his train of thought, Jeremy asked, “How are you at swimming?”

Ryan swallowed, “Not _that_ good.”

“Neither,” Jeremy sighed, “and I _really_ don’t want to go out in that open water and have nothing to come back to.”

Ryan nodded, it wasn’t his preferred way to go either.

“So what do we do?” Jeremy asked again.

Jeremy looked to him like he was waiting for instructions and it struck Ryan how much Jeremy looked up to him for guidance.

Ryan shifted uncomfortably. “Ok, _logically_ … If nobody comes for us soon, we’re all going to die; whether it’s in a fiery explosion or of heat stroke or dehydration or drowning. But if there’s any truth to that message” – Ryan waved to the box – “then four of us can get out of here alive…”

_Which four? How were they supposed to make that kind of choice?_

There was a long uncomfortable silence.

“I _really_ don’t wanna have to make that call, Ryan…”

Ryan had apparently been following the same line of reasoning.

“Look, Jeremy, here’s what we’re gonna do,” he covered the names on the detonators with his hands and showed them to Jeremy. They were now effectively identical. “When the time comes, we’ll mix up the detonators and flip one of the switches. We won’t know which one it is. But it means that four of us survive this, and that’s four more than if we do nothing. Even if this whole thing is a bluff – which I’m pretty sure it’s _not_ , given the fact that we’re literally sitting on what looks an awful lot like a tonne of explosives right now – we’ll all die from exposure or dehydration in a matter of days, at best.”

Jeremy nodded slowly. “I think… I think I could live with that.”

Ryan smiled sadly, “ _We_ _will_.”

 

* * *

 

Geoff re-read the note for the third time, frustrated by the lack of any further explanation. He rubbed his face with both hands and pulled at his hair as he looked over at Jack.

“What do you think?”

Jack shook his head sadly, “I think it’s bullshit.” He sighed and sat down with his back against one of the scraggly palm trees, combing his fingers absently through his beard.

“You think they’re bluffing?” Geoff asked incredulously, “Why?”

Jack leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees and looked up at Geoff, eyes full of a kind of peaceful sadness.

“I don’t think they’re bluffing Geoff, but I think this whole thing is bullshit,” he kept his tone even and calm, the way he did when he was usually right.

“What the fuck are you talking about? We’re all going to die if we don’t do something!” Geoff was voice starting to shift in pitch as the reality sunk in.

Jack simply shook his head and leaned back again. “I refuse Geoff.”

“You _refuse_?”

“I’m not playing their game,” Jack was becoming more firm, the definitive note in his voice becoming more clear as he spoke, he had made up his mind, “I’m not picking which of our friends live or die. I’m not doing it Geoff.”

“Jack, buddy, c’mon, we could save a guaranteed four people…”

“At the cost of killing two!” Jack burst out, before regaining his even temperament, “I’m not doing it. If you think _you_ can make that call, then that’s on you. I’m not having any of it. I’m out.”

Now Geoff sounded agitated, scared almost. “So you’d rather die than pick a button?”

“Yes Geoff,” Jack’s voice was strong and controlled, “I’d rather _die_ than live with having killed Jeremy and Ryan.”

Geoff’s mouth was suddenly dry. He knew in his heart who he was always going to end up saving, but it was so jarring to hear it from Jack first. That Jack knew that he had already made that decision. And he was completely right.

“Look,” Jack said, more gently now, “Gavin’s with Michael, Michael’s not gonna let anything bad happen to him, you know he’s ok. Jeremy and Ryan will be fine, they can look after themselves. Whatever happens, we’re together. All _I_ know is that I’m not gonna let anyone manipulate me like that. None of them would want that either.”

“Shit…” Geoff mumbled under his breath, pressing his face into his hands. “God damn it Jack. Stop making so much sense. Fuck.”

Geoff dropped to his knees next to Jack and leaned against his side with his back against the palm tree. Jack squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

“You ok?”

Geoff shook his head, “No… but you’re right.” He ran his hands through his hair again, “this is bullshit.” He handed one of the detonators to Jack. It was the one that said _Ryan & Jeremy_.

“Are you _sure_ Geoff?” Jack asked solemnly.

Geoff looked down at the detonator in his own hand, _Michael & Gavin. _“Yeah.” He threw the detonator into the ocean and watched it sink into the depths.

Jack smiled at him before tossing the other, giving it a quiet moment to sink beneath the surface. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Whatever happens,” Jack put an arm around Geoff’s shoulder, “I think we made the right choice.”

“I hope so.”

 

* * *

 

“So we've gotta pick.” Michael shook his head, “That’s so fucked. I hate this. I _hate_ this. What kind of sick fucker does this?” He wanted to hit something or scream out his frustration, but there was nothing on the island he wouldn’t break his hand against and he didn’t want to make the situation worse. It was bad enough as it was. They were going to die if they did nothing, but there was no way Michael wanted to make that kind of choice.

Gavin sat at the edge of the island, his knees tucked up under his chin with his arms wrapped around his shins. Both detonators lay near his feet. He had pushed the one labelled _Geoff & Jack_ just out of reach. The sun had just stared to set and the sky was glowing amber.

“Michael, do you trust me?” Gavin asked quietly. He had been staring at the detonators and note for some time; Michael had read the note once and shoved it away.

“Of course I trust you, Gavin… but…” Michael was lost for words, “…how can you be so _sure_?” There was something desperate, upset and pleading in his voice. “Couldn’t we just flip a coin or something?”

Anything to make it less of a choice – to alleviate some of the guilt. Geoff and Jack wouldn’t be able to live with themselves if they had to make a similar choice. Why should they be expected to play God with the lives of their team?

Gavin shook his head, “Please Michael, I just…” Gavin squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the nagging guilt already starting to pull at his insides, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he _didn’t_ make this call. He owed Geoff so much already.

“Look, Gavin, if you’re going to do it, just do it,” Michael said testily.

“We’d be _saving_ them Michael…” Gavin protested weakly.

“If that’s how you gotta justify it, then fuckin’ just do it already and get it over with,” he turned on his heel, facing away from the other islands and leaving his back to Gavin, “Please.”

Gavin looked pained, he needed Michael’s support. Deep down, he’d already made up his mind, and realistically, there was no way he was going to change it. He felt guilty for how reflexively he’d made his choice and how set in his ways he was about reconsidering it.

But he knew he was only delaying the inevitable.

Gavin looked up at him mournfully, “Do you suppose they know? What’s about to happen?”

Michael shook his head, but didn’t turn around as he walked away towards the far side of the island, “I hope not.”

Gavin took a deep breath, tears in his eyes already as he looked back down at the detonators in the sand.

~ 

The explosion shook the island and stirred up white, choppy waves, one of the islands in the distance instantly replaced by flames and billowing dark smoke, snaking into the sky, catching the oranges and reds from the flames and sunset in a darkly beautiful display.

Gavin let out a choked cry and Michael almost involuntarily turned and ran back towards him. Gavin’s hands were fisted in his hair and tears were streaming down his face.

“Gavin, what have you done?” Michael asked quietly, his own eyes tearing up.

In a very quiet, shaky voice, Gavin replied, “Nothing.”

It took Michael a few moments to process that information in stunned silence.

The detonators still lay untouched at Gavin’s feet.

“I didn’t do anything Michael.”

 

* * *

 

Jeremy buried his face in Ryan’s shoulder, while sobs wracked his body. Ryan simply watched the flames and billowing smoke, spiraling into the air and wondered if they actually were going to be able to live with themselves after all.

As the last golden rays of sunlight faded through pink then purple to darkness, Jeremy finally looked up at Ryan; eyes rimmed red, only barely visible in the light from the flames.

Almost inaudibly, Jeremy asked, “What have we done, Ryan?”

In a voice completely devoid of emotion, Ryan simply replied: “What we _had_ to.”

While it sounded right, neither were sure it was true.

 


End file.
